First of all, there’s four, (count ’em, four!) people pictured in this one photo. Also? It was taken in Idaho.

Idaho? This got me wondering, when did Idaho become a state? The answer: 1890. That helps to date this photo!

What is the connection between all of the other folks pictured in this album from the New York and New England areas and then this far-flung clan from out West? I think the order of the photos in the album might help tell the story. This photo shares the same page as the photo of Friends 46 and 47.

One thing struck me about the boys in both of these photos — they are both wearing quite elaborate bow ties. Could it be the same boy in both photos?

Friend 50 (left) and Friend 46.

The eyes and that right ear make me think this is the same boy. We can make a similar comparison between the girl in this photo and Friend No. 47:

Friends 48 (left) and 47

I think the match is even more clear here. Interesting! So somehow and for some reason this family uprooted from Connecticut and made its way out to Idaho.

We may never know why the family made that move, but in the meantime, I can try to learn more about the photographer. Let’s start with the imprint on the back:

Reverse of Friends 48-51 Photo.

We have photographer H. Erichson on Main Street in Moscow, Idaho. Moscow is in Latah County. I had some trouble finding a corresponding photographer by the name of Erichson on the usual genealogy sites (Ancestry, Footnote, FamilySearch, GenealogyBank), but a regular ol’ Google search turned up this mention:

“Henry Erichson was born in Germany in 1856 and arrived in the United States only fifteen years later. He learned the photographic art in Michigan and practiced in Red Bluff, California. After nine years as an itinerant photographer he established himself in Moscow, Idaho, from 1884. He continued in business there until at least 1908, serving on the city council and as president of the Photographers Association of the Northwest.”

This helpful information led me to a Henry Erichson, born in Germany in 1856, in the 1900 U.S. Census on Ancestry.